The Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex has so few trees, why? (Houston: apartments, school)

[First24]

I was raised in N Texas and have lived in heavily forested areas like NoVA and Atlanta. I prefer the rolling open prairie grasslands with oak trees of the Dallas region. The forested hills and valleys of the east are nice but I'd choose the seemingly limitless horizons and gorgeous sunsets of Texas anyday.

Basically it's a preference issue, to each his own.

[Metro Matt]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

DALLAS DOES HAVE TREES. Plenty of trees, and when people say, "Dallas doesn't have any trees," I think what they mean to say is, "Dallas has very few big and tall trees." that's what i think.

personally, i like the clean and sterile feel of open, blank prairie land with an occasional towering hardwood here and there (usually planted but so what). but places like atlanta and charlotte, as beautiful as they are, have entirely too many trees. you suffocate in the scent of pine cones and leaves. there's hardly a break from the forest.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I once had a next door neighbor that hated East Texas so much he burned down his house New Years Eve so he could file a fraudulent total loss on his insurance & not have to pay next years property taxes. He eventually got his wish & moved back to Arizona where he never had to suffer from "allergies" ever again.

[Saintmarks]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

don't remember seeing any, but does anybody know where in dallas you can see a lot of maples or sweetgum trees?

Don't see them as much, but I do have one of each right outside my front door. The sweet gum is not doing as well as the others, tho.

[solytaire]

Originally Posted by momof2dfw

Yet as others have pointed out Dallas is a city like many others. You hear people complain about missing "hills" but they lived in a city that did not have hills. The hills were off aways from where they actually lived.

Driving down a freeway in ANY city is NEVER a good place to give a fair assessment of the area. One could easily drive down many freeways in California or Florida just off the coast and never see the beach or ocean. Doesn't mean it does not exist. They just never took the time to explore the area.

Yeah, I can see how one could miss the trees just driving along the highway. But with all due respect I think your analogy is a bit flawed or I simply misinterpreted it.

To say that one would miss the beach driving along a freeway would only be akin to saying one would miss the forest (not the trees in general) driving along Dallas' freeways. Because both elements would be located in a specific part of the area. So of course if one does not travel to that particular destination, it would be impossible for them to see either the forest of trees or the beach.

My own analogy would be: if someone were traveling along the main freeways of the Great Lakes region and stated that there were no lakes. Well clearly there are lakes all throughout the Great Lakes area. Similarly if trees were generously dispersed throughout the Dallas area, one could not simply drive through and say: "this place doesnt appear to have trees"

[Nairobi]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I once had a next door neighbor that hated East Texas so much he burned down his house New Years Eve so he could file a fraudulent total loss on his insurance & not have to pay next years property taxes. He eventually got his wish & moved back to Arizona where he never had to suffer from "allergies" ever again.

never said i preferred dallas' layout. it's just that the layout of the SE can be a bit much to deal with.

[Metro Matt]

There's not much of a Fall season around the Dallas area to write home about, especially in tree less suburbs like Plano & Frisco where people call 6 foot tall sticks in the ground trees.

[rosscountry]

Originally Posted by Refugee56

During a recent trip to the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex I was shocked how barren it was. The climate is mild there is a far amount of rain year around but I saw few large trees or wooded areas. It seems like about every tree in the greater Dallas area is planted and the landscaping in public places is limited at best. It seemed kind of desolate to me.

Yes, there are some trees in the nicer residential areas that were planted but go out of the city and look from the freeways or through roads and the scene is mostly desolate.

Other nearby areas like Little Rock, Tulsa and Austin have far more trees. Dallas natives, will you admit the area is kind of desolate?

unfortunately you only saw a part of a HUGE area called the metroplex.

I had a friend once who only had time to see DFW airport to 635/ Georgebush and he left thinking that Dallas was absolutley flat..


Well guess what its not. At least compared to places in Florida/ Illinois and other parts.

up in the far north burbs- not much trees--development on what was previously flat farmland and developers chose what trees to keep.

closer into downtown Dallas you see plenty of trees.

As you head to the southwestern Dallas burbs you see plenty of trees(forest) and the north tx hill country which is VERY similar to what you see in Austin with the type of trees and big hills

As you head over to the ft. worth side of town you see mature trees.

parts of some of the far north burbs are very wooded as well.

I think you were in an area where you didn't get the full representation of DFW

if it matters to you come back and spend more time exploring..

now what can be deceiving are the types of tress in DFW. They are very different from what is found in east tx, Atlanta and houston.

We don't have the thick and tall pine forest so it may appear to not be as heavily wooded

You can't see disney world in 1 day.. It will take you years to really see all of the metroplex

I can't see how you could not see many trees especially on the ft. worth side of the metroplex?

[Lakewooder]

A lot of sweetgums were planted along Mockingbird from SMU to the tollway back in the 80s.

[UrbaneAspects]

Originally Posted by Refugee56

Other nearby areas like Little Rock, Tulsa and Austin have far more trees. Dallas natives, will you admit the area is kind of desolate?

Yes, and it gets worse as the season gets colder...

Ive never seen such an ugly place with ugly terrain.

there isnt one single palm tree or colorful plant here. NOT 1. Ugh! I cant stand it!

[tycobb2522]

Originally Posted by Metro Matt

Babbling from someone from f'ing Tyler, then this gem: especially in tree less suburbs like Plano & Frisco where people call 6 foot tall sticks in the ground trees.

Single Family Home - 2001 Los Rios, Plano, TX, 75074 - Realtor.com (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?zp=75074&typ=1&sid=b509d244ea50 44cebe7decb80744fd6a&pg=7&lid=1103508024&lsn=66&sr cnt=140#Detail - broken link)

7 seconds on a popular real estate site proves, once again, the ignorance of your posts...

Of course, we shouldn't be surprised when one considers that this comes from a member who has suggested that other members are gay, and should go down to Oak Lawn for some "stiff drinks"... And we mustn't forget the all time jewel: "Flower Mound isn't Houston"...